DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: Okay here is the new chapter! If I go overboard with it you can let me know. I have this feeling that I might go overboard with it anyway! Enjoy it!
Chemicals React
CHAPTER 14
IT'S OKAY, WE'RE OKAY
Gabriella stared at the whiteboard blankly. She wasn't listening to what her Chemistry teacher was saying; she was ignoring Taylor's desperate attempts to get her to pay attention to her and the horrible looks some of the other girls in her class were sending her and she was doodling on her notebook. Her mind kept on returning to Troy and the amazing feeling of his lips on hers. She hadn't seen him since they'd, well, made out in the hallway. Gabriella sighed and wished she hadn't screwed up as badly as she had. She should have just listened to what he was saying, instead of jumping to conclusions. But she hadn't and now he was as mad at her as she had been at him.
"Miss Montez, can you please tell me what I just said?" her teacher, Mr Craig, asked and Gabriella's head snapped up, she stared at him.
"What?" she asked.
"Miss Montez, I'm going to have to ask you to pay attention, even if daydreaming about Mr Bolton is more fascinating then the work we're currently doing." He asked and Gabriella went bright red.
"I wasn't daydreaming about Troy! I'm just tired……I mean, yes Mr Craig." Gabriella went a deeper shade of red as Mr Craig raised his eyebrows at her.
Taylor raised her hand "Mr Craig? Can you excuse Gabriella and I to get a drink?" she asked him and Mr Craig nodded, Taylor stood up and pulled her friend out the door before Gabriella could dig herself a deeper hole then she was in.
"What is wrong with you Gab? You've been spaced out ever since English!" Taylor hissed at her when they were safely in the girls bathroom, Gabriella didn't reply, instead she splashed her face with water.
"Gabriella, answer me please! What happened in the hallway?" Taylor asked and Gabriella turned to look at her.
"We made out in the hallway." Gabriella said simply and Taylor stared at her.
"What?" she asked dumbly and Gabriella closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.
"Mrs Alexander kicked us out and when Troy shut the door I turned around to yell at him and he kissed me, and then pushed me up against the lockers opposite Mrs Alexander's classroom and we kissed until the bell rang." Gabriella stated and Taylor suddenly realized that she was telling the truth. Gabriella had had swollen lips when she had come out of the classroom, she'd been shaking and had been spaced out ever since then.
"Okay, so you made out with Troy in the hallway up and you were pressed up against the locker and he was pressed up against you?" Taylor asked honestly expecting Gabriella to laugh and shout 'Got ya!'.
"Basically." Gabriella nodded and Taylor suddenly felt like she needed to sit down.
"This is the same Troy Bolton you said that you hated with a passion?" Taylor asked and Gabriella nodded again.
"Whoa, Gabs that's hot, I think you and Troy are the only ones who can get away with doing something like that without making it seem……" Taylor trailed off searching for the right word to sum up what she was thinking.
"Completely revolting and something that the cheerleaders would do to get attention?" Gabriella finished off joining Taylor on the floor.
"I was going to say something different but that'll work too." Taylor agreed and Gabriella groaned.
"What do I do Taylor? He won't look at me, he won't talk to me and I have no idea where he is." Gabriella said and Taylor shrugged.
"You could try and talk to him. I mean you know he has to go home sometime, so just go see him when he's at home." Taylor said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and Gabriella looked at her.
"Your back with Chad." She said curiously and Taylor shrugged.
"Yeah, we kind of got back together after your 'big' argument with Troy. Where you both let on what you knew about our break-up. You realize that both you and Troy tend to reveal stuff when you're furious at each other don't you?" Taylor asked as they heard the bell ring, signaling the end of the day.
"Well, at least something seems to be going right in the world." Gabriella sighed and then exchanged a look with Taylor and both girls burst into laughter at Gabriella's dramatics.
Breathing deeply Gabriella walked up the pathway that led to Troy's front door. She took a deep breath and then raised her hand to knock on the door. Before her hand came into contact with the door, it swung open to reveal a dressed up Joanne Bolton looking harried.
"Hi Joanne." Gabriella said softly as Troy's mother looked at her.
"Gabriella! What a nice surprise! You're looking for Troy aren't you?" Joanne waited for the girl to nod before continuing quickly "Well, he's out the back on the court, practicing, you can go through and find him. I hate to leave you like this but I have to get going, we're running late." With that Joanne brushed past Gabriella and ran towards the car that was slowly beginning to back out the driveway.
"Um, thanks." Gabriella said as the car drove away, gulping she walked into the house and dropped her bag onto the table sitting by the door.
Walking quietly, Gabriella found the silent Bolton household incredibly creepy as she walked into the kitchen. Sighing in relief she found the door that led to the backyard and opened it. She walked through and shut the door behind her. Pausing for a brief moment she watched as Troy moved across the court, making it seem like he wasn't trying at all. He looked so at home. To Gabriella he seemed to be more comfortable and at home on the court on his own then he did walking through the hallways of East High with his best friends by his side.
Slowly she walked towards the court, wondering if he'd seen her coming or not. This felt really weird; she wasn't sure what she was going to say to him and she didn't know if he wanted to talk to her. Gabriella looked down in surprise as she felt something bounce into her shin. Bending down she plucked the basketball from the ground and looked up to meet Troy's blue eyes, which showed no emotion. Gabriella suddenly found her voice.
"Can you teach me how to shoot?" she asked quietly, holding up the ball and, after a moment, Troy nodded slightly.
Gabriella walked over to him and stopped right in front of him; she turned to face the hoop and held the ball up. Troy didn't speak as he gently moved her hands into the right position, Gabriella shivered slightly at his touch and his hot breath on her neck. When he was satisfied with the positioning of her hands, Troy ran his hands down her body to rest on her hips from behind and then spoke for the first time since she'd arrived.
"Bend you knees," he whispered in her ear and Gabriella felt him apply downward pressure to her hips, she obediently bent her knees and then shivered again as he whispered in her ear once more.
"Now shoot." Troy's voice was soft as Gabriella threw the ball into the air; it hit the backboard and rebounded to the side. Neither Troy nor Gabriella moved as the sound resounded through the yard.
Gently Troy turned Gabriella to face him after a moment. She looked up at him and for the first time since meeting her Troy saw how scared she was being there with him. He could tell she was no longer angry with him and he could see she was no longer confused. But he knew that she was scared and he had no idea why she was scared.
Gabriella stared up at Troy and wondered how things could have changed so quickly. This morning they'd had the screaming match of the century and now they were standing in his backyard as close as they had been this morning, but it was different. It was different because there was no anger, there was no hurt, there was just an emotion there that they both felt but couldn't put a name too. Suddenly Troy sighed and let his forehead drop to rest on hers.
"You are the stubbornness person I have ever met." Troy told her quietly and Gabriella grinned.
"Since when do you talk like that?" she asked teasingly and Troy let out a chuckle.
"Since you became the only girl I listened to." He replied and Gabriella laughed.
"Well, just to let you know, you are the most exasperating, annoying, smartest, basketball-orientated jerk I have ever met." Gabriella said and Troy feigned hurt.
"Well then, you are the most infuriating, frustrating, know-it-all, book-orientated geek I have ever met." Troy shot back and Gabriella laughed, loving the way his blue eyes twinkled as he said it.
"I know." She said and Troy grinned and then suddenly they were both turned serious.
"I'm sorry Troy, for everything." Gabriella whispered, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I'm sorry too," he replied and Gabriella smiled.
"Who knew that falling for you would be so easy?" she asked cheekily, breaking the mood, and Troy laughed.
"Who knew falling for you would be so difficult?" he shot back and Gabriella shrugged still smiling.
"Hey, you're the one that did it," she reminded him and Troy snorted.
"Yeah, even though at the time I was so certain that I hated your guts. Let's not forget you though Miss, you did exactly the same" He said and Gabriella hit his shoulder and then laughed.
"You're right, for the record though, I hated you first." She grinned and Troy suddenly turned serious, his blue eyes darkening and the smile dying on his face. Gabriella bit her lip and wondered what was happening.
"Well then, for the record, I loved you first." Troy said softly and Gabriella stared at him in complete shock, wondering if the words had actually come out of his mouth. She shook her head when she realized that they had and then looked at him, her heart rising as she saw that he was telling the truth. Gabriella could feel herself blushing as she found her voice.
"For the record then, I love you too." She told him quietly and then they both grinned, Troy letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, almost unable to believe that she was serious, but one look at her face told her that she wasn't lying. Leaning down he kissed her.
Gabriella responded warmly to the kiss, so different from the ones that they had exchanged that morning. It was soft and slow and completely unhurried. Gabriella smiled against his lips as she felt him lift her up off the ground. She hardly realized that she was crying from relief as Troy set her down, breaking the kiss.
Troy smiled at the girl in front of him and removed a hand from her waist to gently wipe away a tear that was slowly sliding down her cheek.
"Its okay Gab, we're okay." He told her softly and Gabriella nodded reaching up to kiss him again, before either could really enjoy the kiss, they both heard a cry come from the house and Gabriella pulled back, looking at Troy questioningly and Troy sighed.
"Mia's awake." He said and Gabriella smiled.
"Okay, go and get her, I'll help you look after her tonight." She said and Troy grinned and pressed another kiss to her lips.
"Thank you." He whispered in her ear before running to the house to attend to his sister. Gabriella hugged herself and looked up at the sky.
"It's okay, we're okay." She whispered and then laughed out loud, feeling giddy as she followed her new boyfriend into the house.
A/N: That has to be the most clichéd thing I have ever written! I know I said this last chapter but I'm really not sure about this chapter either, it seems really…..strange. Anyway, it is my painful duty to say that there is only one more chapter left in this story and then I'll be concentrating on 'Shooting For The Stars'. I'll update soon!